Systems and methods for storage modeling and costing

• US 7,343,356 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2005
• Issued: 03/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Bunte, Alan G, May, Andreas, Prahlad, Anand, Lunde, Norman R., Kavuri, Srinivas, Madeira, Andre Duque, Schwartz, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): PORTKA, GARY J
• Application Number:
  US11/120,634
• Publication Number:
  US 20060064555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,044 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/400
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1446 Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/185 Hierarchical storage management [HSM] systems, e.g. file migration or policies thereof details of archiving G06F16/11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/81 Threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0644 Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0649 Lifecycle management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 : Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0683 : Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 : Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0686 : Libraries, e.g. tape libraries, jukebox
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 : Inference or reasoning models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 : Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 : Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 : Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 : Archiving or backup

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for data storage. A hierarchical storage management architecture is presented to facilitate data management. The disclosed system provides methods for evaluating the state of stored data relative to enterprise needs by using weighted parameters that may be user defined. Also disclosed are systems and methods evaluating costing and risk management associated with stored data.

Claims

1. A method for calculating data costing in a network comprising a storage operation cell hierarchy, the method comprising:

storing, in a database, storage cost data associated with one or more storage operation cells in the network, wherein the storage cost data indicates a cost of using a logical unit of storage space in a physical storage resource in the network for a unit of time;

identifying at least one physical storage resource on the network;

collecting usage data for the at least one physical storage resource through the storage operation cell hierarchy via a storage manager component of a corresponding storage operation cell, wherein the storage operation cell hierarchy comprises a plurality of hierarchically organized storage operation cells each comprising a data agent component of a client computer for communicating with a physical data storage resource, a media agent component for communicating with another physical data storage resource, and a storage manager component for managing the data agent component and the media agent component;

calculating a storage cost for the identified at least one physical storage resource based on the associated storage cost data and the usage data; and

apportioning the calculated storage cost among a plurality of departments having access to the identified at least one physical storage resource,

wherein the storage cost is a financial value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating network identifiers for a plurality of physical storage resources in the network, wherein the generated identifiers are distinguishable from each other; and

retrieving storage cost data from the database based on the generated network identifiers.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information identifying the at least one physical storage resource from a system administrator and storing the information in the database.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information identifying the at least one physical storage resource from a supplied configuration file and storing the information in the database.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically and dynamically obtaining information identifying the at least one physical storage resource.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the database is stored in a storage manager, the storage manager being in communication with the at least one physical storage resource through the storage operation cell hierarchy.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage cost data is measured in a unit of currency per unit of data storage.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating the storage cost based on a usage pattern of one or more departments.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more departments is a selected from a group consisting of a financial department a medical department, and a legal department.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a predicted cost of data storage based on a pattern of use.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage cost data is based at least in part on a type of storage media used in at least one of the storage elements.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a graphical user interface console for displaying a calculated storage cost on a per department basis.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a software application from a user; and

displaying at least one storage cost associated with the user-selected software application.

14. A computer readable medium storing program code which when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform a method for calculating data costing in a network comprising a storage operation cell hierarchy, the method comprising:

storing, in a database, storage cost data associated with one or more storage operation cells in the network, wherein the storage cost data indicates a cost of using a logical unit of storage space in a physical storage resource in the network for a unit of time;

identifying at least one physical storage resource on the network;

collecting usage data for the at least one physical storage resource through the storage operation cell hierarchy via a storage manager component of a corresponding storage operation cell, wherein the storage operation cell hierarchy comprises a plurality of hierarchically organized storage operation cells each comprising a data agent component of a client computer for communicating with a physical data storage resource, a media agent component for communicating with another physical data storage resource, and a storage manager component for managing the data agent component and the media agent component;

calculating a storage cost for the identified at least one physical storage resource based on the associated storage cost data and the usage data; and

apportioning the calculated storage cost among a plurality of departments having access to the identified at least one physical storage resource,

wherein the storage cost is a financial value.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing a graphical user interface console for displaying calculated storage costs and for displaying storage costs associated with a user-selected application.